For a period of four hundred years, navigators sought to devise a method to use celestial navigation to locate their position. Artificial Horizons have been employed to assist th process, especially when the true horizon is obscured by weather or other elements. In 1868, the mercury bottle and reservoir were designed with a dual paned sighting hood that made it more possible to accomplish this.

Cased wood mahogany box with boxwood mercury bottle (3 3/4 inch height with 1 3/4 inch diameter) and steel tray with wood funnel liner, plus a glass-paned wind cover with steel frame (6 1/2 x 3 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches).